Destiny 2: Renegades Review - The Shooter Strikes Back

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This year in Destiny 2 started on the wrong foot. While it promised a revamp of many things and certainly delivered on a few things that made the game more approachable, it dropped the ball on many others. The whole Metroidvania approach to the campaign felt unnecessarily time-gated, loot drops were frustrating, and the entire gameplay loop felt stale. However, Destiny 2: Renegades has arrived to fix many of those issues with a clear, familiar Star Wars coat of paint. And despite its inspiration, it still retains that iconic Destiny 2 feel, making Renegades one of the best and most fun expansions we’ve had in a long while.

The Revenge of the Dredgen

Initially, as a fan of both Star Wars and Destiny 2, I was afraid Renegades would be more of the former in its narrative. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Even if the opening sequence was full of Episode IV references, and I say that with all the praise in the world, the truth is the campaign feels extremely Destiny-coded, which is what made it so enjoyable.

The expansion begins with Drifter’s new fireteam made of Eris, Aunor, Eido, and, of course, the most lethal weapon The Nine have ever created, our Guardians. In short, and without spoiling much, we’re chasing the Cabal Imperium, which, yes, has the whole Galactic Empire looking with even a Death Star-like weapon ready to deliver some Light-snuffing blows to the galaxy.

This time, the campaign is much shorter than The Edge of Fate, and frankly, that’s the perfect length. The previous expansion made the whole main story feel like a drag, with a poorly implemented Metroidvania approach that time-gated many things and shifted the focus from fast-paced shooting to more puzzle-oriented segments, and it got old fast. Renegades, on the other hand, brings back the shooting part with some of the best gear we’ve seen this year, excellent levels full of intricate combat challenges, and some staple Bungie traversal and combat puzzles, and just delivers a campaign that is enjoyable from its opening sequence to the final cutscene.

Another thing that stands out from the campaign is character development, especially that of Drifter and Dredgen Bael. It is clearly a Han Solo/Kylo Ren type of relationship the two of them have, and while I’ve never liked Kylo as a character and thought Bael would go down that path, Bungie managed to develop this new villain in surprising ways. Naturally, Drifter is the one who steals the spotlight, and I’m glad he did because it is always a blast to have him around for a chaotic adventure.

My only minor complaint concerns the quest design itself. Destiny 2: Renegades shows a bit of that MMO-questing feel in terms of repetitive and somewhat strange objectives. “Talk to Aunor in the Cantina,” “Talk to Drifter’s Ghost in the Cantina,” “Talk to Aunor in the Cantina,” and “Go to the Cantina.” This type of quest design is something that many of us have outgrown, and you can take a look at other MMOs like FFXIV, where these objectives are tiresome and break the pacing that a good narrative is presenting. Again, not a deal-breaker because the actual story and missions are superb, but it is something I wish Bungie would fix to make the campaign feel engaging even without doing combat-oriented activities.

Ultimately, I’m surprised to see the high-quality narrative returns in Renegades. The one thing I praised about The Edge of Fate was how it made its story shine thanks to its characters, cinematic feel, and introduction to this new narrative arc. Renegades continues building this intricate story that is easy to get into for new players, while also offering many things that longtime fans of the franchise will enjoy. In truth, I’m even more excited to see where we’ll go after our stop in the Lawless Frontier.

The Return of Destiny 2

While I’m not a veteran like many of you who’ve been around since Destiny 2 launched, I must admit that the most enticing part about the shooter, well, is the shooting. There’s something so satisfying about using every weapon in the game on top of Guardian abilities that other games never manage to emulate. Imagine my disappointment when The Edge of Fate left that on the bench in favor of a destination that was all about exploration, puzzles, and underwhelming combat.

Fortunately, Destiny 2: Renegades entirely focuses on the shooting part by adding an excellent new destination with a challenging loop, some excellent guns, and a weapon from a more civilized age.

The Lawless Frontier adds a new gameplay loop, clearly inspired by Helldivers, where you must grab a couple of destination-exclusive abilities and drop into a map to complete a few objectives before safely extracting. I ended up enjoying this mode more than I thought I would. For starters, it removes your standard healing capabilities. You now need to break containers to find healing items, or hope your build is capable of restoring your health. Also, there are several different objectives, at least during the campaign, that task you with planting explosives, defeating enemies, or completing some puzzles while the Imperium is shooting at you from every direction.

To even the odds, you have the aforementioned abilities, which range from summoning a vehicle, calling down a pod that gives you ammo, or even summoning a healing pulse, all through the throw of a coin, which is one of the most satisfying sounds in the game.

Like every other expansion, Destiny 2: Renegades is packed with new weapons, many of them with the latest Heat-generation ammo, meaning you don’t need bullets, but need to manage your gun’s heat. All in all, these were pretty fun to use, especially when paired with some of the Artifact Perks, but the real protagonist is the Praxic Blade.

After completing what is, by far, my favorite mission in Destiny 2, you get your Praxic Blade, which is this game’s version of a lightsaber. It comes with several modifications, including crystals and combat forms, that you can unlock after wrapping up the campaign. What makes it such a destructible and enjoyable weapon is the fact that it is truly a space Swiss army knife. It has its ranged mode, which is the iconic saber throw. It can deflect projectiles with style, and due to its melee capabilities, can become part of some interesting builds, especially if you’re a Titan.

Usually, when I wrap up a campaign in Destiny 2, I just log in to do my dailies, increase my power level, and wait for the next event. Now, this Praxic Blade has made me spend hours looking for all its upgrades and trying to fit it in a proper Void build for my Hunter, which you bet I’ll eventually be able to come up with. Oddly enough, it is so fun to use that it made me forget about the fact that this is yet another expansion without a subclass. I hope that changes for the next one, though.

Destiny 2: Renegades embraced everything that made the shooter so iconic in the first place. The satisfying combat is back. The Lawless Frontier is highly addictive due to its well-crafted design, abilities, and challenging objectives. And the Praxic Blade is, hands down, one of the best additions to the almost endless arsenal of the game. I just hope Bungie keeps adding things for this exotic in further updates because this is one of the few weapons I never want to add to my vault.

A New Hope

As I wrapped the campaign up, in the most cinematic final mission of recent expansions and prepared for the grind, I realized something: I had the drive to play Destiny 2 again. It wasn’t this feeling of completing a chore that The Edge of Fate gave me. Instead, it was a genuine feeling of jumping back into the Lawless Frontier to work on my build, complete my quests, and just spend time in a shooter that has given me so many hours of fast-paced action and satisfying gunplay.

While the quest design could use some work, Destiny 2: Renegades is a step in the right direction, and it brings everything that should have come with The Edge of Fate. Even if the start of the Year of Prophecy was bumpy, this new adventure is putting the shooter back on track and making it feel like the game I fell in love with a few years ago. Hopefully, this continues in the next expansion, because we know Bungie has the chops to deliver high-quality content, and Renegades is a clear example of that.

Destiny 2: Renegades (PS5 Reviewed)

8.5 Great

Destiny 2: Renegades is what The Edge of Fate could have been: a fresh start into a new saga, packed with excellent combat additions, weapons, and an intriguing narrative.